Berhampur: Serious allegations have been made against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Odisha’s Aska Saroj Kumar Padhi after a purported audio clip allegedly featuring him went viral. Following the viral audio, Padhi has been accused of demanding money from two leaseholders for lifting sand from riverbed in Ganjam. The audio clip, which is getting circulated on social media, has triggered political heat in Aska. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former MLA Manjula Swain has demanded a thorough investigation into the audio clip. The BJP legislator, on the other hand, alleged that a conspiracy has been hatched to defame him and tarnish his image.
Extortion For Sand!
Is the BJP MLA really demanding extortion money for sand business? The audio clip has heated up the political atmosphere in Ganjam. The purported audio clip contains alleged telephonic conversation between Padhi and two sand leaseholders – Sudhakar Choudhury and Nrusingha Nayak.
In one of the audio clips, the legislator can be heard asking a leaseholder as to how he is running the sand business without informing him. He allegedly spoke about monthly dole and asked the leaseholder to fix the amount. The leaseholder, on the other hand, asked him to come for a negotiation on the issue.
In another purported audio clip, the MLA is also heard talking about money with a leaseholder, who claimed to have paid Rs two lakh as per demand. He said the sand lifting remains suspended at present.
Opposition BJD has mounted a scathing attack on the BJP legislator after the audio clip went viral on social media. Former MLA Manjula Swain hit out at the BJP and sought immediate steps to ascertain the veracity of the audio clip. She sought appropriate action after a thorough investigation into the whole issue.
Besides Manjula Swain, other BJD leaders including Ganjam district youth wing president Nachiketa Swain also targeted the MLA. They said the audio clip showed that the legislator had accepted Rs two lakh from sand mafia. Nachiketa demanded a thorough probe into the matter and strong action against Padhi.
The BJP MLA, however, refuted the allegation and claimed that the audio was manipulated and made viral on social media as part of a conspiracy to defame him. He claimed that leaseholder Sudhanidhi Choudhury had borrowed money from one Krupasindhu Muduli to run his sand business. As he did not return the borrowed money, Krupasindhu sought the MLA’s help in recovering the money from the leaseholder, he said.
Stating that he had a word with Sudhanidhi on the issue, the legislator said the leaseholder later handed over Rs two lakh to his family members during his absence instead of returning the money to Muduli. The money was subsequently handed over to Muduli, he said, adding that Sudhanidhi had borrowed money from many people who have also lodged complaints with the police after the leaseholder failed to return the same
The legislator claimed that the whole story is part of a conspiracy to defame him. Claiming that the leaseholders had raised lakhs of rupees from the people of the constituency, he said he was asking them to return the money during telephonic conversation.
With the audio clip triggering a political row in the state, the demand for a thorough probe to unravel the truth is gaining momentum.
